


soup to cure what ails you

by jessicamiriamdrew



Category: Naruto
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, Sickfic, food as a love language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 10:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28349805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessicamiriamdrew/pseuds/jessicamiriamdrew
Summary: Iruka is so sick he stands up Kakashi for their maybe-a-date lunch. Luckily, Kakashi has a penchant for soup and taking care of Iruka.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka
Comments: 4
Kudos: 97





	soup to cure what ails you

**Author's Note:**

> ty deepestbluest, stupidbadgers, and jul for looking at this at various points and discussing it with me!

Iruka wakes up and knows that he’s sick. His skin is clammy but the thermometer tells him he has a fever. The inside of his head has been scooped out and replaced with cotton, for as much as he’s able to think.

“It’ll be fine to put off grocery day just this once,” Iruka says to the air. “Past me was an idiot.”

He peels the covers off of himself and stands up, carefully balancing so as not to fall. Upright is progress.

Gingerly, he gets closer to the kitchen, where his kettle awaits. Hot tea will help, and maybe there’s food in there somewhere. 

Thank goodness he has the day off.

It takes him twice as long as it should to make tea, but he sits and sips as much of it as he can. Too tired to walk to the sink, Iruka leaves the teacup and saucer on the table.

Unfortunately, the walk to his bedroom seems to have tripled since he left it, and so he is forced to veer to his couch. 

He collapses onto it, hoping that sleep will bring relief.

*

What sleep could’ve brought is rudely dissipated by the knocking on his door. Despite the lack of blankets, he’s sweat through his pajamas again.

Iruka groans and hastens to his feet, stepping back to open the door.

“Kakashi-san?” Iruka asks. “Is Naruto okay?”

“Are _you_?” Kakashi asks, moving closer. 

Iruka walks back into his apartment, not bothering to even motion Kakashi inside. That’s more energy than he has. Part of his mind protests that he shouldn’t let Kakashi see him when he’s such a mess, but there’s no energy to enforce it.

“You stood me up, sensei,” Kakashi says cheerfully. “Which isn’t like you, so I thought I would check on you.”

He tries to think through his plans for the day but it’s all been superseded by the pounding in his head. He flops back onto his couch, relieved when he hears the door close and Kakashi is still inside.

Kakashi crouches down in front of him and waves a hand across his face. “Have you eaten today, Iruka?”

“Tea counts,” Iruka asserts. Oh, god, what if Kakashi thinks Iruka is one of those people who never puts dishes in the sink?

He straightens up, disappearing from Iruka’s line of sight, and Iruka is relieved when what he hears next is the sound of cabinet doors slamming.

“Well! There is nothing in your kitchen fit for consumption, so I will be back.” 

A cool, wet towel is placed on his forehead and Iruka groans in relief.

*

When Iruka comes to again, it’s to the sound of Kakashi humming and vague, kitchen associated noises. 

This time, he feels almost human, and absolutely ravenous, especially given the aroma of whatever it is Kakashi is making.

The world even seems to spin slightly less as he joins Kakashi in the kitchen. 

“Is that my pot?” Iruka asks, seeing a huge stock pot on the stove.

Kakashi turns around, brandishing a kitchen knife Iruka _knows_ isn’t his.

“Hmm,” Kakashi says. “I may have had to upgrade your kitchen a bit, for this.”

Iruka sits down at his kitchen table. “And what is this, exactly?”

“We had lunch plans, but you are obviously in no state to go out, so I’m making you lunch.” Kakashi smiles under the mask, Iruka is sure of it. “And with plenty of leftovers.

“You were out for a bit, so I’m actually almost done.”

He remembers the lunch plans now, part of the seemingly inexorable thing blooming among them, that makes Iruka stay awake at night and ache.

The teacup Iruka left on the table earlier is now cleanly situated on the drying rack, along with kitchen items Iruka both does and doesn’t recognize.

True to his word, barely any time passes until Kakashi is bringing him a glass of water, followed by a heaping bowl of soup. Kakashi grabs the same for himself, and knocks Iruka’s foot under the table once he’s seated.

Iruka takes a sip of the spoonful of soup, and it’s _great_. The chicken broth is strong and soothing on his throat. A slurp of more than broth reveals that the chicken bits itself are tenderly cooked. He has no idea what the dumpling shaped item is, but he follows Kakashi’s lead and uses his spoon to slice off a piece of it.

The bite that ends up in his mouth makes him gasp. He wants to marry this soup. 

Kakashi, of course, has somehow finished his soup without removing his mask, but he seems content to watch Iruka savor his.

“What is this?” Iruka asks. “I’ve never had it before, at least not this type of dumpling.”

Kakashi reaches out and tweaks Iruka on the nose. Iruka blinks, not believing that Kakashi just touched him like that.

“Jewish penicillin,” Kakashi says.

“There’s penicillin in this?” Iruka drops his spoon. His allergy isn’t severe, but it exists, and…

“No, no,” Kakashi says. “It’s a joke? The soup is so hearty it’ll heal you?”

Iruka nods, because the soup is making him feel better, even if he’s most of that is probably because he hadn’t eaten at all today. 

“Wait, Jewish? Soup can be Jewish?” Maybe he misheard Kakashi before.

“It’s matzah ball soup.”

That doesn’t really answer Iruka’s question, but he keeps eating it anyway. He supposes the dumplings are the matzah balls.

“My mothers familial recipe, from back in Suna.”

“I didn’t know she was from Suna,” Iruka says curiously, cautiously.

Kakashi hums noncommittally. “Not many Jewish families in the land of fire, but I’ve held onto a few things.”

Iruka wishes he weren’t sick at all, because he should be at his best for this conversation.

Although they might not be having this conversation if he hadn’t been sick and missed his maybe-a-date lunch with Kakashi.

“Like the soup,” Iruka says, and swears he can see Kakashi smile below the mask.

As he scrapes the bottom of the bowl, exhaustion starts to seep over him. Kakashi gently places the back of his hand on Iruka’s forehead.

“You should sleep more,” Kakashi says. “You still have a fever.”

“Will you be here when I wake up?” Iruka asks. He doesn’t like the idea of Kakashi being alone; he’s intimately familiar with the stress of discussing one’s deceased parents.

Kakashi pushes a lock of hair behind Iruka’s ear, his hand lingering, at least in Iruka’s mind. 

“Sure,” he says. “Someone has to make sure you eat dinner and don’t collapse.”

Despite Iruka’s squawks of protest, Kakashi helps him back to his bed, which Iruka collapses into like gravity somehow increased.

With the blankets pulled tight over him, Iruka curls up into his pillow and sighs. He doesn’t remember the last time someone took care of him when he was sick, and this isn’t doing the feelings he has for Kakashi any favors.

“I’ll go read in the living room,” Kakashi says, brandishing a book from who-knows-where, and the moment feels delicate.

“I don’t want you to get sick,” Iruka says, “but you could read on top of the blankets, if you want.”

It’s a silly suggestion, especially given how much time Kakashi has spent on and with him today.

But the bed shifts as Kakashi lays down next to him, the pile of blankets separating them. Iruka hums happily, comforted even with the barrier.

“Maybe next time we can do this when I’m not sick,” Iruka says, the tendrils of sleep coalescing and esconcing him.

The mask-covered kiss to his forehead feels solid in the feverish haze.

**Author's Note:**

> hanukkah is over which means im switching into pesach mode. if you have never had matzah ball soup, i highly recommend it.
> 
> you can find me on tumblr at the same url. be safe!


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